


just like fire, burning up the way; if I can light the world up for just one day (no one can be just like me anyway).

by anxiouspunk



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, I love El more then anything and I just want her to have nice things, I put in some Nancy/Kali in Kali's chapter because I cannot help myself, because I can't ever do titles so I just have to steal them, because I can't fucking trust male writers to do it apparently, girls supporting girls!!, hello I'm new!, rated T just in case even though it's probably not even needed, this is basically just a chapter each on El's relationships with the female characters, title is pink's 'just like fire'
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-03-24 16:42:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13815258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxiouspunk/pseuds/anxiouspunk
Summary: El knew the boys in her life very well. But as she grows and finds out more and more about the world, she'll learn to take valuable lessons from and forge strong bonds with, all the girls in her life too.aka if the Duffer Brothers aren't going to give El positive female relationships then /I will/.





	1. Nancy

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends! This is my first work in the fandom (although not my first fanfic, I'm just getting back into the saddle after a few years). Basically, I just really wanted to give El actual, genuine interactions with the other girls, which is why I finally stopped lurking around the tag and finally tossed my hat in instead. This is just the first of many, so I'll be posting other st stuff soon.
> 
> This is Nancy's chapter, which, to be honest, is probably my least favourite one; it just didn't turn out like I wanted. But regardless, I'll put it up, and then the rest that'll follow will be a bit better. This follows about a year after season 2, and the Hoppers and Byers are living together as one big happy family like we all know is destined to happen after Joyce and Hop get together. Enjoy!

“Okay, and – last one – the first ten amendments on the Constitution are called what..?” 

El pressed her lips together, thinking hard. Her finger absentmindedly traced the flowery comforter, hearing the low sound of pop music from the radio trailing by her ear. 

“Umm, the-the Bill of Rights..?” 

“That’s correct!” Nancy smiled, making El beam. The older girl scribbled something down on the paper, after making a mark at the top in red pen. She then slid it towards El. 

“Congrats El, B+!” 

El gasped, grinning down at the sheet she held up proudly. Nancy smiled back; all those lessons and tests were starting to come together now, and she was quite proud of her quote-on-quote student. 

“All your hardwork is starting to pay off – you’ll be ready to start school in no time!” 

El smiled to herself. She was glad to have gotten the mark, that she was doing so well. And she really liked studying with Nancy; she was very patient – much like her mom and unlike her father – and usually always made the lessons fun so it wasn’t so dull to learn math equations and science facts.

And she was looking forward to starting school, she really was. It was a bit hard to not feel left out when all her friends got to go to school and chat about all the different rumours of who’s doing what and the teachers who keep giving out the really hard tests. But, school was a whole new environment. It was going to be more work then just studying with Nancy, and there was going to be a whole lot of new people.

“El…? What is it..?” 

“You think..” El lifted her head towards Nancy’s curious expression “..I’m smart enough, for school..?” 

Nancy furrowed “Of course you are El! You’re really smart! What makes you think you wouldn’t be?” 

El just shrugged. Sometimes she just got a little worried. Her friends were already so smart; they all took second-year courses, her brother had all these science trophies lined up on his shelf. Both her and Max felt a little intimidated by it all, that they weren’t caught up to all the theories and science – but even Max was smart in her own right, she was getting the highest marks in her English class and was reading all above them. Just last week, they played a trivia game, and El came in very last. She could barely get even half the questions. Her friends had comforted her, told her it was just a stupid game, but she’d been blinking back tears for the rest of the night. 

“My friends, really smart. And my brother..” 

“That’s only because they started earlier El, they’re just a bit ahead but you’re definitely catching up! You’re for sure as smart, you just gotta get there first.” 

“So, Dustin’s not right..?” 

“Dustin..?” 

“Me and Max, came last in trivia. Dustin said it proves that boys are smarter then girls..” 

Nancy’s eyes pop so wide El becomes a little terrified. 

“He said what?!”

“Uhm..”

“I can’t believe – god, I-I’m going to wring is scrawny neck...” 

“Hurt Dustin?!” 

“No El, not really – just..maybe a stern talking to..” 

“Good. Max punched him after anyway. Now he says he has..internal..bleeding..in his arm..”

Even though Lucas told them that’s literally not how it works, the boys not so eager to help Dustin out because even they didn’t think he was totally right, nor were they willing to face Max’s wrath. 

“Good!” 

El quirked an eyebrow. 

“Well, I just mean he kinda deserved it..” Nancy explaining, donning a more serious expression after “But what he said was wrong El. Dustin sorta has..foot-in-mouth disease, so he probably didn’t mean what –” 

“Disease? He’s sick?!” 

“No! No it’s just an expression. Means that he doesn’t really think about what he says before he says it, just blurts it out.” 

“Oh.” El blinked back, finding the phrase very suiting to her friend, making sure to log the phrase away with all the others she’s learning “Yes. He does.” 

“Exactly. And even if he really did mean it, it’s in no way true. Boys, they like to pretend they know everything, and that girls should listen to them because of it. But that’s not how it is, and I’m sure you know that too.” 

El pondered on the thought. She wasn’t really sure; after all, it was boys, men, she’d grown accustomed to first through most of her life. She was only just starting to get to know the girls in her life. She cared about them very much, but she didn’t know them so intimately yet. Nancy saw her struggling. 

“..Like, think about all the girls you know – they’re smart, aren’t they?” 

She thought harder, and decided that yes, they were.

“My mom..very smart. She knew Will was talking to her..in the lights, from the Upside Down.” 

“That’s right! What else?” 

“Ummm, you. You’re really smart. Steve says you kick everyone’s butts in test scores..” 

Nancy blushed bashfully “..Well, yes, that, but who else?” 

El dug deeper, but was coming up dry “Max likes to read, but hates school. But she can skateboard good, and the boys..fell off when they tried. And Kali..knows lots of stuff, but says school is for know-it-alls..”

Nancy chuckled at that “Max and Kali, well, they kinda have what people call ‘street smarts.’ See, there are different ways to be smart, it’s not all school stuff and tests. Max and Kali would know lots of stuff the guys wouldn’t, or even I wouldn’t! Just like you said, with the skateboard – Max can do it really well, but the guys couldn’t, ‘cause some people just aren’t made to do it well.” 

Nancy had a good point. El remembers the time Steve had taken them to the baseball pitch in attempt to teach them the game. It had ended with Dustin nearly bruising Lucas’s eye with the ball, Mike snapping the bat in two, everyone forgetting the rules and then breaking them, and so after about two hours Steve called it quits with a very aggravated and red face. 

“No.” El agreed, shaking her head “Not good at sports.” 

Nancy laughed at that, and El couldn’t help but giggle with her. Already, Nancy was starting to make her feel better.

“See? It’s different. Some people are smart one way, others another, or even both. So it’s unfair for Dustin to categorize like that.” 

El nodded. She kept watching Nancy, studying her as she soaked in this information. That Nancy was very smart, she knew that to be true, but much like she said, that wasn’t all about her. Then, it clicked in. 

“You’re both.” 

“Huh?” Nancy brought up her eyes from the sheets of paper. 

“You’re both. Really smart, but, like Max and Kali too. Like, you..um...” El struggled for words, so instead brought up her hand and made a gun with her fingers, holding it up and squinting, jolting it to make it seem like she was shooting “smart like that too...” 

Nancy furrowed and unfurrowed her brow, eyeing El carefully. Then, a giant grin spread over, head ducking down. 

“Well, thank you. See, some people don’t think about it like that.” Nancy explained, tucking her hair back “Some people, don’t think I can be, I guess, strong like that because I get really good grades, or I like girly stuff, like dressing up and make-up.” 

El scrunched her face. That didn’t make any sense. Nancy had lots of good traits about her, and she taught El a lot. Who ways saying she couldn’t be the way she was? 

“Why?” 

“Dunno. I guess it’s just too hard to think that some people can be multiple things at once.” 

“..Stupid.” El decided, getting a small laugh from the older girl “...I like girly stuff too.” 

She did; she liked to do her hair and play around with make-up, sometimes with Nancy or by herself, just ‘cause it was fun and she liked the way she looked, and her friends sometimes jokingly tease her about it.

“That’s true, you do! And you’re like, along with Max, one of the most badass girls out there – you totally own all those boys.” 

El blushed, a tiny smile creeping over her lips. 

“And Kali, doesn’t she like it too?” 

“Sometimes.” Kali paid much attention to keeping the look Hopper called the “MTV punk”, so she mostly liked to dress up El in the darker and louder colours, grumbling as she saw the yellow nail polish and pink gloss with “what the hell is Wheeler teaching you, honestly..” 

“And besides yourself, Kali is also one of the toughest people out there too. So, you see what I mean?”

Slowly, El nodded. Nancy smiled sweeter, her hand grasping over El’s wrist gently. 

“You are your own girl El. You don’t have to be just one thing, and don’t let idiots like Dustin, try to convince you otherwise.” 

El giggled, beaming up at her. She knew Nancy to be very fierce, a stronghold, but at the end of the day, it was her kindness that always shined through first. How caring she was towards her, offering to teach her about all these long and often complicated subjects, just to help give her the life she’s been dreaming of. El hoped she could be, along with her own self, a bit more like all the good traits Nancy showed.

“Okay,” Nancy started shuffling though the notes again “I have one more lesson plan to go through, do you feel up to it?” 

El nodded eagerly. Definitely.

“Have to be ready, for school. Kick everyone’s butts in test scores, too..” 

It takes a second, and then Nancy is bursting out in a laugh. Her shoulders shake and she’s pressing the back of her hand to her mouth. El doesn’t really get it, but it makes her smile brighter. 

“Yes.” Nancy chuckles, brushing her hair out the way “Definitely have to get ready for that.” 

She starts pushing the papers towards El, but then, through the silence, a new song broke out on the radio. And both girls quickly lit up, gasping as they recognized Madonna’s new catchy hit flowing out of the speakers. With Nancy, El had also quickly caught a new love for the singer. 

“..Okay,” Nancy grinned a little, reaching to turn up the volume “Maybe just after this..” 

She bobbed her head fast, making Nancy laugh again. El looked up happily to her faux big sister, feeling at peace as they laughed and sang along so freely.


	2. Kali

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! Here's the second chapter, like promised. I do love this one; more substance then the last one, it actually came out good, and I adore Kali, so. 
> 
> Just to make sense of things, this follows my headcanon that Kali comes back to find El and ends up living with her and the Byers/Hopper family. Also, my headcanon that while El goes by the name her friends gave her, Kali is the one person who gets to call her Jane, as El still keeps the name as a part of her identity too (if you, like me, love Kali too, I have a bunch of headcanons for her on my tumblr where I spend most of my time yelling about her, the link in my bio).
> 
> Otherwise, enjoy!

El bobbed her head in time to the beat, tips of her converse hitting the underside of the van’s beat-up glove compartment. She could see the mop of black hair falling back and forth  in time  with her from the driver’s seat, the gloved hand tapping along the steer wheel. This one was her, their, favourite. 

 

El sang extra loud as the final chorus played off, feet slamming down and grinning hard. Kali chuckled beside her. 

 

“Another one?” 

 

“You can replay it, but we’re almost there anyway.” 

 

El glanced out the window. They’d left most of the suburbia behind, the townhouses and little shops, now along the lone roads and green space. There wouldn’t be another car or person for miles. 

 

“I’m glad you like this stuff, instead of that top 40 bullshit Wheeler is teaching you.” 

 

“I like Madonna. And Cyndi!” 

 

Kali rolled her eyes “It’s synthesized trash – it requires no real talent. I would’ve thought Wheeler would be smart enough to see that..” 

 

El turned back to her sister. Her hard eyes were searing into the road ahead  while she twiddled with the radio knob . She quirked her head. 

 

“.. Nancy won’t like you back if you hate her music. .– ”

 

El threw her hands over her ears  when Kali’s hand suddenly slipped and the punk rock came screaming out the speakers. When she quickly dialed it back  with some muffled cursing , she turned to El with wide eyes.

 

“W-what, I-I, wh-who  gave you that idea ?!” She spluttered. 

 

“Steve. And Dustin.” El explained “Said that if..you act mean, pretend mean but not really, or don’t care, to a girl, it’s a way to..make her like you..” 

 

“ _ Jesus Christ _ – Harrington is a  _ moron. _ ” Kali fought back, grip tightening on the wheel “And that Henderson kid isn’t all the ept either. I don’t know  _ why _ , if he wants to be better with girls, he’s listening to the guy who’s only steady girlfriend dumped him.” 

 

“Maybe. But he’s right. You’re always acting fake mean to Nancy. Pretending to be rude. Don’t care.” 

 

“I do  _ not  _ –”

 

“Also you stare at her a lot.” 

 

“Yes, it’s called a glare.” Kali grumbled. God, she was going to kick that Henderson’s kid’s ass the next time she saw him. Or Harrington’s. Or both. 

 

“Nu-uh.” El continued, adamant in her stance “You care by pretending you don’t.” 

 

“Jane!” Kali yelled, knuckles growing white, sighing after she saw the girl’s brow jump up “I  _ do not  _ like Nancy Wheeler. She’s a walking stereotype with her good-girl persona and even better grades, and you should stop believing everything you hear.”

 

El continued to stare at her thoughtfully. Kali kept her eyes to the road, just trying to pay attention to what was ahead of her –

 

“...Liar.” 

 

“ _ Oh my god _ –”

 

“Nancy’s smart, likes make-up, but..different. Cool too. Fought the monster. Got rid of the bad place..” 

 

“Yes, I..know that.” Kali muttered. Alright, so Nancy Wheeler was kinda cool. Sorta. Maybe a lot. Kali tried not to think about it  too much.

 

“And I’m like that too. Girly but..cool.” 

 

“I think that’s a little  _ different _ Jane.” 

 

“Is not.” El defended,  brow  furrowing “And you too. Like to dress me up, do hair too..”

 

“ _ Alright _ , fine, I give in – you want me to say Nancy Wheeler is  not a complete goody-goody ?! Fine, she’s  _ cool _ .  _ Maybe  _ she’d even be alright to spend time with.” 

 

El grinned to herself “Now say you like her.” 

 

“I do  _ not _ .” 

 

El gave a sour look. She was only trying to help, and she didn’t know why her sister was being so stubborn about it.

 

“..Friends don’t lie. Especially sisters.” 

 

“That might work on all your little friends.” Kali told her, slowing down the car as they approached the side of the road “But I  won’t fall for that so easily .” 

 

“But –”

 

“No more talk, we’re here. Get out.” Kali gestured roughly, all but kicking open her door. El groaned, head dipping back, but did as told. 

 

She followed Kali out after climbing down,  traipsing down into the green pasture. They’d found the open field some time back; it was about the size of the average football field, wide enough with trees leading out to  a forest at the edges. The best was,  is  that it was so far out no one knew about it. 

 

The two walk in the complete silence, only occasionally broken by the chirp of crickets, to stop almost mid-way across. 

 

“Alright.” Kali surveyed the area, then turned to her sister “Ready?” 

 

El nods, a small smile across “Ready. What’re we doing..?” 

 

“Agility.” Kali leaned over, fishing something out of her pocket “Your strength is improving, but it needs sharpening. Here’s what I want you to do..” 

 

She pulls out a bright blue ping pong ball and holds it up to El. 

 

“I want you to take this, and you’re going to move it all the way down to where the trees start. I’m going to provide blockers along the way which you’ll have to dodge. Can you do that?” 

 

El nods again. She was eager to get started, to learn more.

 

She remembers how hard Kali had fought with Hopper to let her do this, to let her train her abilities freely. Her father was still on edge with the whole free-power-usage thing – mostly for El’s safety, but also, like most people, was a bit uncomfortable with letting her use them so flippantly. But Kali had been determined, demanded that it was nothing short of _necessary_ for El. 

 

“ _I_ implore  _ you, how is Jane supposed to feel about her abilities if everyone demands she keep them hidden?! Like a dirty secret, something to be ashamed of?! It keeps her a monster if you let it stay in that shameful light! She has a  _ gift _ , just like anyone else, and it should be allowed to be a part of her! She should get to be proud!”  _

 

El had smiled all while when she eavesdropped, and eventually, with some back-up from Joyce that it would only be fair to their young daughter, Hopper relented. Kali had looked pretty proud then. 

 

El picked up the ball, holding it up where it levitated in front of her face. Slowly, she took in a breath, and started pulling it through the air, down along the field towards the end. 

 

It wasn’t very hard; she’d lifted things much heavier. Kali was watching sharply beside her. She’d only moved the ball a few feet when she saw Kali lift a hand and then a sudden wooden slab shot up from the ground, blocking her path. El gasped, and quickly moved it over, diverting the crash. Kali smiled. 

 

El kept moving, but then another shot up, thicker in width. But she was ready and quickly dodged that too, the blue ball whizzing by. She reached about the mid-way point when two blocks came up, Kali raising both her hands. El squeezed her fist and quickly shot the ball through them both. 

 

Breathed out heavily. She could feel the slight trickle of blood underneath her nose. 

 

It continued like that for a while, and El managed to pretty much avoid any collisions. Just before she reached the end, this time, a wall rose up,  very fast and stretching wide . El yelped and  tossed her head back. The ball  flew over just in time, barely skimming the top, and finally dropped by the tree roots, finished. 

 

El sighed, head dropping down. It was one thing to lift objects, she could do that, but it took extra effort to actively avoid crashing it into anything. Kali quickly  wiped under her nose, and then clasped El on the back. 

 

“Good job.” El looked over to see she was being smiled down on “Now, we’re going to improve on that.”

 

Kali pulled over a cinder block that had long been abandoned here, and got her to try it again. This time was harder, the object much heavier and clunkier. El ended up hitting some blocks this time, which meant every time they had to start over. It got a little frustrating; El sighed and groaned, kicked the ground, but Kali was patient. 

 

“ _Practice Jane, it’s gradual – you’re getting better.”_

 

She did finish it, after her fourth try. And by then they were both pretty tired, so El dug out the snacks brought along in the bag. They sipped from their water bottles and shared the bags of animal crackers; El likes to bite off the heads first just like how Dustin said was the appropriate way to eat animal crackers, which Kali called “bizarrely morbid.” They talked some more, and El thought about ways of bringing up Nancy again. She waited for an easy lull in the conversation, paying attention to folding the now empty bag as she began, 

 

“..Nancy told me she wants to practice getting better at shooting.” 

 

“Uh-huh..” Kali responded; not looking up, but voice hitched at the end, hinting to the idea that she was not loving where she thought El was going.

 

“Says she needs to learn how to shoot better from far away.” 

 

“That’s nice.” 

 

“But no one else can do it to teach her, like Steve or Jonathan.” 

 

Kali snorts “Go figure.” 

 

“...You can shoot.” 

 

“That’s a matter of opinion.” Kali stuffed the water bottle back into the bag “Now, let’s pick up where we left off.” 

 

“You can –”

 

“We’re not doing this.” She raises her hands to stop El’s roll “We’re not going to gossip about possible crushes like it’s a Saturday night slumber party. We’re here to work.” 

 

El rolls her eyes. She’ll  figure out  another way to talk about it. 

 

“Alright,” Kali dusts herself off and then points down across the plane “you see that?” 

 

It was a massive boulder, wedged well into the ground and had faded vines wrapped around it,  clearly  well integrated into it’s environment. El nodded. 

 

“I want you to move it.” 

 

El paled. Turned to her sister with wide eyes. 

 

“Too big.” 

 

“No it’s not – you’ve moved things bigger.” 

 

“Yes, but..really hard.” 

 

“Yes that’s the point Jane.” 

 

El furrowed. Kali shuffled.

 

“I just want you to try, at least. We’ll see where it goes.” 

 

Kali wasn’t going to be reasoned out of it, El knew that. So she just sighed, and fixed the rock in her sights. Took in a big breath. 

 

It was true – she had moved worse. She might as well be able to do this. 

 

So she focused hard. Gripped all the energy she had in he r small body and put it all onto it. Slowly, but surely, the massive structure stated to vibrate lightly. 

 

“Good work. Keep going.” 

 

El tried. She really did. But the thing was much heavier then anticipated. Her outstretched hand started to shake and El felt her chest tighten. Eventually, before it even lifted an inch from it’s spot, El buckled and dropped her hold. It stopped moving and El bent over her knees, panting heavily. 

 

“You were getting there Jane. Try again.” 

 

“No..” El puffed, chest heaving “Too much, too heavy.” 

 

“You can do it.” 

 

“No!” El whipped her head up  to glare over “Too heavy!” 

 

Kali eyed her carefully, saying nothing, El dropping her head again as she collected her breath. After some silence, El felt a hand to the small of her back, making her lift her head.

 

“I know it’s hard Jane.” Kali reasoned, the sharp brown eyes rarely soft “And there’s a reason I’m so hard on you – because I know you can do it. Because I know how strong you are, how much strength you carry. You  _ can  _ do it.”

 

El knows Kali’s only trying to do well by her, say what she thought was encouraging. But instead, it sat sourly in her. There was something off about it – it held bad ties. And Kali could read it right away, becoming wary. 

 

“What..?” 

 

El stared at her shoes, too nervous to look at her sister “..That’s what he would say..” 

 

“ _ What _ ?” Kali’s voice sharpens,  feeling a low pit of worry for who  she thinks El is hinting towards.

 

“He’d say...I was the strongest one..”

 

That’s what the reasoning always was; the “praise” he’d give her for always doing those draining  and gruesome tasks. El can still remember the slick and shivering voice, “asking” her to do these tasks (as if she had any kind of choice) under the guise of compliments. 

 

_ You have a lot of power Eleven, you are very strong. You will able to do this well – and you will do this for your Papa, won’t you? _

 

El shivered, the sound of the memory raising goosebumps on the back of her neck. Another stretching silence, and then Kali grabs her shoulder tightly. She spins her to the side so they were face to face. 

 

“You listen to me,” Kali gripped tight to her, her voice iron “I know he used to say that. I remember, he preferred you because you showed the most potential, the highest outcome.” 

 

El swallowed thickly, tilting downwards. Kali’s fingers caught her chin and pulled her back; she was looking at her so fiercely, fire-lit eyes locked. But not in anger ; instead, adamant to get her to understand, like the times Kali tried all her might to pass lessons onto her sister when she showed her doubts. 

 

“And while you do show potential Jane, I am  _ not  _ talking about that.” 

 

“No..?” 

 

“No. You are capable, but that is  _ not  _ your strength.  _ You  _ are strong as a person Jane – it has nothing to do with your abilities. I’ve seen it. It takes strength to get back up and fight – to keep fighting, even after all the turmoil before. And that’s what you do. You keep fighting. You sacrificed yourself,  _ twice _ , even without reward or promise that you’d be alright. But you were strong enough to do that, because that’s who you  _ are _ , regardless of abilities.  _ That’s  _ what I’m talking about.” 

 

El guessed she  had  never really thought about it like that before. Kali reached down and  tightly clamped her hand around her wrist . There was still fire over her,  though near  desperate, like she was pleading with her. When she spoke again,  the stone voice had become soft too .

 

“And that, is. _not. his._ Jane. Your strength is your own, _never his_. It does not belong to him. Do _not_ let them have that, because it’s you who is strong and they have _nothing_ to do with it and they do _**not**_ own it. You understand me?..” 

 

El nodded, a quiet “yes..” leaving her lips. Kali sighed deeply, squeezing her wrist. 

 

“...Believe me on this – you are  _ always _ stronger then you think you are. Always. I know it, I see it, and you need to too.” 

 

El watched Kali carefully, and then, slowly, she smiled to herself. It was odd. Her sister's love for her was not soft like Nancy’s or her mom’s. But it was twice as fierce and all the more powerful.

 

“Okay..” 

 

“Okay.” Kali clasped her on the arm, a near smile “Lets try again then, shall we?” 

 

El nodded. She moved back to the boulder, eyes closed. Slowly, brought up her hand  and took in a big breath. Gathered herself, slowly picking up the pieces from earlier.

 

_ Your strength is your own _ .

 

Her eyes flew open and she locked it down into place. The boulder began to shake, gradually getting more and more turbulent. El breathed in heavy, steadily –  _ In. Out. _ – and fel t the slow weight press down on her  she  but didn’t buckle. Eventually, the massive formation started to lift just an inch. El huffed, her r aised hand staring to shake again. Again, there was a quick hand to her shoulder. 

 

“Remember what I told you. Hone your power. Bring it in. Focus.” 

 

El made a fist at her side. Her teeth gritted together and she had to close her eyes again. She didn’t like to think of things that made her upset anymore. Neither of them did. They didn’t like anger, while justified, to be their only reason. Their source. 

 

Instead, El focused on her sister’s words. How strong she was. All the amazing things she’d done, and all the power it had taken. That she did that all by herself.  _ That is who you are. _

 

Her muscles were trembling,  as if  she was being dragged down by thousands of weights, but yet, she  _ pushed _ . 

 

She knew she could do it.

 

The boulder rose further and further up. In a matter of minutes, it had been completely removed from it’s snug hole dug deeply into the ground, hovering a couple feet above the grass by a gasping but smiling El. Kali’s head dipped back as she watched the show, eyes glued. And then a grin spread over her, El seeing it just from the corner of her eye as they awed what was in front of them. 

 

As they awed her strength. 

 

El had meant to put it down gently, but her little body buckled too early. She released the weight with a massive gasp and the thing came crashing back to the ground. It slammed into the dirt, casting out shockwaves and getting everything within fifty feet to shake. 

 

El squeaked, toppling over. Kali quickly grabbed her and held them together as the shakes  lessened. El all to eagerly leaned her tired body into the side of  the other girl , sighing heavily. Kali wrapped a steady arm around her middle. 

 

“See?” Kali grinned to herself “What did I tell you?” 

 

El breathed out a laugh, nodding her head. 

 

“Tired..” She muttered into the army coat covered shoulder. 

 

“Yeah. I think we’re good for today’s training.” 

 

They separated, and Kali fished the pink water bottle out of the bag, handing it to El. She drank the rest of it, and Kali closed it, pulling it up over her shoulder. They started their slow walk back to the van.

 

“I’ve got some new trials I wanna try for next time. Next Thursday.” 

 

“Okay, but.. I. .have a test. From Nancy. Have to study.” 

 

“A test?”

 

“Mm-hm. On chemical elements. Nancy made me q-cards.” 

 

“She made you q-cards..” Kali muttered, eyes rolling back “Of course she made you goddamn q-cards..” 

 

El smiled to herself at that. Silence falls over again, ju s t the shuffle though thick grass. Kali bit into her cheek, flicking her eyes from El back down to the ground, trying to gauge. Eventually, she just spit out, 

 

“Hey.” Her voice faltered, so she cleared her throat roughly “Uh, Wheeler still uses that old pistol, right?” 

 

El furrowed her brow “Yes..?” 

 

“Well, no wonder her skills are so weak, with a shit out-of-date model. But she has the potential; she got pretty far with such a poor gun. I’ve got new ones – she’d be able to shoot near half the range if someone showed her how..”

 

El turned her head to Kali.  A second after,  ever so gradual ly , the biggest shit-eating-grin grew over lips. 

 

“Knew it...” 

 

“ _ Hey _ .” Kali threatens with a pointed finger, looking her scariest but El keeps smiling “You say a  _ single thing _ to anyone,  _ especially Wheeler _ , I’ll string you up myself, you hear me?!” 

 

“Mm-hm.” El beamed away, feeling very pleased with herself. 

 

“..And wipe that smile off your face.”

 

El  met her eyes.  Kali look ed at her like she was trying to set her on fire. 

 

“..You love me.” She grinned. 

 

Kali snorted, eyes rolling  back again.  And t hen, she throws her arm around El to steer her up to the car, wrapping it over her eyes  in a headlock,  a small smile in the corner of her lips. El squealed, yanking at her sisters sleeve to pull her off, making demands to let her go as Kali only pulls her down further  and yell s back that she had asked for this. 

 

But they were both grinning through it, their laughter radiating out into the quiet as they made the way back to their home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked it let me know! :) Next chapter in soon-ish time.


	3. Max

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! Here's chapter three. It's kinda long, but it's one of my favourites. I'm sorta late to the Max and El friendship as everyone's already done stuff, but I think we all agree still that we deserve this badass girl duo. Unlike before though, this one's not 100% El's POV all the way through, so sorry about that, but you'll see that it had to be done like that. This one takes place some time after the others, where El is already in school now.
> 
> Enjoy, hopefully!
> 
> (P.S I'm sorry for the random chops and breaks in the words from last chapter and now this one; I don't really have an answer for that other then ao3 is kinda shit and built really badly, and I'm still figuring out why it's doing this, and if anyone else knows why that information would be super helpful)

Everyone could tell El was upset.

 

She hadn’t spoken since they left Mr. Clark’s class. The class, where their favourite teacher announced they’d been starting their biology unit by dissecting real, live frogs. The boys shared excited glances, especially Dustin, all thrilled to have a real hands on experience like that. But then they’d looked over to where they’d see El’s face had just  _ fallen _ . When she spoke up, her voice was lower and filled with more nervous stutters then usual. 

 

“ _..R-real..frogs..?”_

 

“ _Yes Ms. Hopper, real ones! Won’t that be exciting to look at the inner workings of our amphibious friends?”_

 

El clearly didn’t think so. 

 

Now they were all sitting in the AV room, and El was glaring down at her sneakers, arms angrily crossed. She hadn’t even touched her pb&j sandwich. The rest of them munched in the tense quiet, sensing the upset waves washing off of her, unsure of what exactly to do.

 

“C’mon El,” Dustin finally broke the awkwardness, clasping her on the shoulder with one of his sunshine grins “It’ll be really fun, promise!” 

 

“ _ Not  _ fun.” She only glared harder, not looking to her friend.

 

“Sure it will – better then textbooks and worksheets right? We even get to wield sharp objects and be covered in frog goo after!” 

 

His laughter fell short. Eventually El lifted her head and seared her hard eyes into his. 

 

“Not fun for  _ frogs _ .” 

 

They all fell quiet at that.  T hey  guessed they  couldn’t really dispute that. 

 

“She’s kinda got a point.” Max offered , watching pointed gazes f all over her “..What?!” 

 

Mike sighed, turned back and put a hand at her side. 

 

“El, those frogs..they wouldn’t have had a chance anyway. They’re raised and bred to come here and be experiments anyway.” 

 

“Yeah, they would’ve just died no matter what.” Lucas backs up. 

 

More glaring. Then her eyes go to Mike, looking more hopeful.

 

“Not if we put them outside.” 

 

“You..you mean like, take them and release them?..” 

 

El nodded quickly. Eyes went wide at that.

 

“El...you know we can’t do that.” 

 

“Why?” 

 

“Because we’ll totally get our asses kicked by the principal!” Dustin exclaimed, waving around his cup of pudding. 

 

“Plus, Mr. Clark would definitely hate us for it.” Lucas said.

 

“It’s just..not worth it for a couple of frogs who’d be dead anyway.” 

 

El glared hard at Dustin, who shrunk back, scooting his chair closer to Will. El  glanced to her brother then, who’d been quiet up until this point. 

 

“Will..?” 

 

“Well..um, I..I..don’t...” 

 

El was sure he’d be on her side. He had been last month, when Hopper had caught a mouse snooping in the Byers kitchen via a mouse trap, snapping it’s neck. He argued they had to kill it so it wouldn’t come back, but El had cried for three days after, and Will had mourned with her. They even held a burial for it the backyard and had placed one of their mother’s tulips over the grave. But right now, Will looked undecided, nervous and not  meeting her eyes . 

 

“..I mean, normally, maybe I would..but...I don’t want to make Mr. Clark upset, and the guys are right El – the frogs would’ve been dead anyway...”

 

El’s face fell for the second time, crestfallen. Mike felt his heart squeeze, biting into his cheek. He hated that look on her. He quickly put his hand over her own. 

 

“Maybe..maybe we can’t release them, but maybe we can talk to Mr. Clark? See if we can do something else? He might listen to us..” 

 

The whole group exchanged looks, trying not to sigh at how far Mike will bend over for El. She seemed happy with that though, nodding eagerly. 

 

“Yes. Go talk to him.”

 

-

 

“What’s  happening.. ?” 

 

“I dunno, I can hardly see – I think, ack, I think Dustin’s talking now..” 

 

Max heaved up on her toes,  teetering back and forth to desperatly get a good look through the window  of the science room. El hung back by her shoulder, letting her go first as Max had a few inches on her. 

 

They’d  both hung back, as Mr. Clark knew the boys better, and Mike argued it should be a smaller group so it  didn’t seem like they were “ganging up” on him (to which Max snorted at). So El stayed with Max, who offered to  stand at her sid as she “wasn’t a part of Mr. Clark’s nerdlings anyway.” 

 

“What’s he saying?” 

 

“I can’t hear but he’s got on that face where he’s trying-trying to reason himself out of something – I dunno El, they kinda look..sad –”

 

“Sad?” El deflated

 

“Maybe it’s not working. But uh, we’ll, oof, we’ll give them so more time and – wait, shit, here they come!” 

 

Max planted her feet down and quickly ushered El back. The door fell open, and the boys shuffled out. Their expressions didn’t really bleed happy; they all had their  gazes locked to the floor. 

 

El rushed froward anyway, taking Mike’s wrist and looking up at him with  innocently shining eyes. 

 

“Mike..?” 

 

“Well, um..” He could hardly look at her, hand in the back of his hair “We tried El, honestly – gave it our best shot, but um..Mr. Clark said this was a great opportunity to expand our knowledge of different creatures, so he gave us a no, but –”

 

She was gone. The hopeful expression dropped to the floor, Max watched it  break  sadly, and then she was turning on her feet, fleeing down the hall. Mike called after her but she didn’t stop and instead ducked into the girls’ washroom. They all sighed collectively, shuffling around nervously. 

 

“Geez,” Dustin adjusted his hat,  pushing curls out of his eyes “I didn’t think it’d be such a big deal. Girls are so sensitive.” 

 

“What do we do now?” Mike voiced. 

 

“What else can we do?!” Lucas countered “We already talked to Mr. Clarke, and it’s not like the principal is  gonna listen to us, and we  _ can’t  _ release the frogs. El will just have to..sit out, or whatever it is – she can’t stop the whole class from doing it.” 

 

“Hm..”

 

“...” 

 

“….”

 

“...You guys are lame!” 

 

They all turned to a rather annoyed Max.

 

“Like, seriously?! Just because you don’t want to make your nerdy leader mad?!” 

 

“Mr. Clark isn’t a nerd!” 

 

“What happened to always assisting a party member in need?!” 

 

“We  _ can’t  _ Max.” Lucas urged “We  _ tried  _ talking to Mr. Clark, but stealing those frogs will get us in serious trouble.” 

 

“ And what,  like  stealing Billy’s car and fighting demon dogs was total rule abiding behaviour ?!” 

 

“That was different! We were fighting evil!” Dustin reasoned “If we did  _ this _ , we’d be in even deeper shit! The principal will totally come down on us..” 

 

“And Mr. Clarke would be really disappointed in us...” Will spoke up

 

“And they’d call our moms!” 

 

Max rolled her eyes as Dustin’s went wide with the idea of what he mentioned. God, they’ll fight other  worldly monsters but they won’t stand up to one wimpy middle-aged school teacher?! Mike was still looking torn, huffing and tearing at his hair. He kept looking back to the door to the girls bathroom, Max following his gaze.

 

“Well, uh..maybe..maybe we can just..I mean..” 

 

“Whatever. Just leave it.” Max  nuttered , arms becoming crossed as she turned to start down the hall “I’ll go talk to her – I’m the only one who can go in there  _ anyway _ ..” 

 

When s he entered the washroom, right away, she could hear the low sniffles of crying. She followed it to the last stall, the biggest one, already spotting dirty white converse from under the stall door. She knocked quietly. 

 

“El? It’s me. Can you let me in please..? I just want to talk..” 

 

Long silence. Then, slowly, without the shoes moving from their spot, the lock slid back. Max pushed the door  open , finding El crouched down on the floor. Knees up and a tear stained face. Max  couldn’t help the pang of sympathy. 

 

“Hey El.” She slid down beside her “What’s up? What’s wrong with the frogs..?” 

 

She sniffed sadly, whipping her sleeve across her face. 

 

“We..we can’t hurt them. It’s bad..” 

 

“That’s why you want to save them..?” 

 

She nodded. Then began lifting her head, meeting Max’s gaze, sad browns all redshot. 

 

“..Frogs...like me. Hurt by bad people..” 

 

Oh.  _ Oh _ . Now it made a lot more sense. Max winced internally,  surprised they’ d all missed that connection. If anyone was going to understand being hurt and  prodded against your will for someone else’s benefit, it was probably El. God, how was she going to  talk her out of that?

 

“..But, the people in the school aren’t bad. And neither  are our friends.” Max tried to reason, stretching out her legs “And, you’re kinda different then just a regular dumb frog..” 

 

“No.” El shook her head, expression hardening “The same. Hurt.. and.. people did stuff to us..when we didn’t want  them  to. The frogs..should just get to live...” 

 

Her sobs became worse and her shoulders  started  shaking. It was  altogether heartbreaking. Max didn’t know too much about El’s past life; just that it was so bad she didn’t like to talk about it much more then a few pieces, and that it still caused nightmares. Max softened, quickly putting a hand to her back.

 

“Hey El, it’s okay, don’t cry..” 

 

“I..I just-just want to help them..” 

 

Maybe it was how  distraught El  was , or at how fairly pissed she was that their friends were still too cowardly to stand up to the man, but Max took a stand right then, straightening herself up. 

 

“I’ll help you.” 

 

El gasped lightly, head lifting up from where she’d sunk into her hands “Really..?” 

 

“Yeah. I mean, the guys are being kinda stupid – just ‘cause the y’re Mr. Clarke’s little groupies doesn’t mean they get to let you down. Or bow down just because they’re worried if we get in trouble they’ ll  call  _ our moms _ ..” 

 

El started to smile again, thankfully “So you’re helping.” 

 

“For sure. I mean, when your best friends, you’re do or die, right?” 

 

“Girls gotta stick together.” 

 

El watch Max laugh a bit. It was what she’d said to  her the first time they were really starting to know one another, after El realized she’d been mistaken about Max. That they had to stay together,  _ “I mean, with all the guys around, make sure we don’t get mowed down.”  _ and El had smiled at that. 

 

She’d seen Max dance with Lucas at the Snowball, soon seeing that maybe she’d been wrong that the redhead had liked Mike. Later she went up to Lucas and questioned him on it; asking if she liked him, and with a suddenly red face, he said he thinks so. That only made her more curious, and Lucas soon answered her questions, that Max was actually really cool, and that, well, she’d really been looking forward to meeting El, to being friends. All which made El feel worse; turns out she’d been very, very wrong about her. So Lucas said the only way to fix that was to apologize since El drew blood first,  something El recalls perfectly from when Mike and  him fought. Not wanting to be a mouth breather, she’d strolled over to Max and stuck out her hand to the confused girl (“ _ I drew blood. Have to shake.” “Huh?” “I’m sorry.” _ ). Thankfully Max was more then forgiving, and the girls had quickly grown very close in the short time. El loves her boys, but none of them held her fire, her stubborn and wild spirit, like Max did, and she quite liked having a girl best friend.

 

“Yeah. Exactly. So I’ll help you take the frogs.” 

 

“And put them outside, to their home?!” 

 

“Precisely.” Max held out her fist “Let’s do it.” 

 

El grinned, sitting back up eagerly. She slammed her fist atop of Max’s. 

 

And so they schemed.

 

-

 

The plan was to come in early. 

 

El takes her bike; tells a white lie to her parents about seeing a teacher for extra early help on an essay. That seemed to go over well enough. She was worried her brother would catch on, but she guessed Will thought she’d given up on the frogs, not taking any notice to the lie.

 

She sped over, meeting Max behind the school. The parking lot was just starting to fill up with teachers; the air was still a bit chilly and the sky  was just starting to brighten  from the sun now  making it’s way  well  over. Students would start coming around in about twenty minutes, so they had to be quick.

 

The building’s locked, of course. But Max  knew how to fix that . El watches her slide out a bobby pin from her hair, sticking one end in the lock. This was a trick  learned back in California, and El is impressed, though most of her attention is keeping watch for teachers. Her heart beats loudly in her ears, hoping nobody will be crossing by.

 

It takes some jostling and curses under her breath, but Max gets it. El grins and they slide through the cracked opening. 

 

It’s eerily empty, almost a little dark with the morning  light just starting to slip in through the windows. Crouched, they tip-toe through the halls, only stopping to hurriedly duck into corners or behind lockers when they hear the oncoming slap of shoes. So far, no one’s noticed. Max makes a comment about how amazingly easy it is, surprised nothing’s been graffitied or rooms smoke bombed. 

 

Eventually they reach the science room. They leer around the doorway, getting a peek in. Mr. Clarke was already at his desk, sipping coffee and scribbling over papers. On the desks at the front row of the class, was a massive, closed plastic tub poked with tiny holes that was full of leaping, croaking real-life frogs.

 

“How are we  gonna get him out?” Max whispered. 

 

She waited on El, who was giving it a great deal of thought. Then, she held up a hand to Max, and narrowed her gaze onto something. Whi le Mr. Clarke was busy mulling over his marks, his coffee cup slowly started inching along from where it was left by the edge,  traveling along until  it fell off, crashing  down  with pieces and coffee flying everywhere. El then relaxed her shoulders  and  quickly wip ed under her nose.

 

He jumped slightly, turning to the mess. They saw him mutter something like  _ “how the..?”  _ but either way, he sighed and got up from his chair, collecting the pieces. The girls scampered back, fitting into the hidden crook  of the wall. They didn’t reveal themselves until they heard Mr. Clarke’s oncoming leather shoes clacking pass by them as they held their breath, and then lessen as he walked down the hall until it was gone. 

 

Max snatched El’s wrist, knowing time was of the essence. El was dragged into the room where they approached the ribbit ing  box of frogs, hands hovering  and  desperately trying to plan in the split second of time they had. The frogs were all leaping over one another, near frantic. El thought they looked scared. 

 

“We..do we..how...” El sputtered. 

 

“Here.” Max grabbed the nearest handle at the front “You take the back, I’ll go to the front and lead.” 

 

El nodded,  hurrying to the other side. She took the handle, watching Max turn around and grasp the box from behind her so that she could see where she was going. On three, they lifted the box off the desk. The ribbiting became more frenzied. 

 

“It’s okay.” El whispered to the frogs “We’re going to set you free. No bad people will hurt you.” 

 

“We gotta take the back exit.” Max said, standing at the door frame, scanning the hallway for bodies “There won’t be any teachers that way. Okay, ready..go.” 

 

Max rushed out, and El scurried after, the box wobbling in between the both of them. They were fast down the halls, but it wasn’t necessarily easy, given they had to be quiet and not give themselves away with the hurried squeaks of their shoes. And that Max had to stop every so often to double check the halls for teachers. 

 

Their ride was mostly smooth. It was a little frightening, hearts beating out of chests. At one point, El had to send a teacher’s stack of sheets he was carrying to “accidentally” topple out of his hands so he didn’t spot them crossing the opposite way. 

 

Eventually they approached the last hall, leading into it from  the one  they were currently running down. Max cautiously stuck her head around the corner to look.

 

“Okay, I think it’s cool, we just turn and take the exit –”

 

“Hey! You two! Mayfield! Hopper!” 

 

El gasped,  stomach dropping to her feet. Both head swiveled around to find a furrowed Mr. Clarke and rather annoyed Principal Sampson about thirty feet down the hall. They were yelling and pointing angrily. And  descending onto them. 

 

“ _ Shit _ – go go go!!” 

 

The floor was almost yanked out underneath El as Max bolted forward, just managing to keep her speed as they turned the corner, running off down to the exit. The exit had to be about a hundred feet or so from them; the early sunlight was gleaming around through the doorframe, and the red exit sign was shining above like a beacon. It was completely obstruct free, open – if they could make it.

 

“Both of you stop! Get back here!”

 

El swung her head back; their teachers were rushing behind them, angry faces and looming. The girls were spry, but the adults were bigger and could cross longer distance, plus, were not trying to carry this clunky box that held frogs hellbent on escaping. Suddenly, with the yelling and the mad looks, a hundred feet seemed like miles. 

 

“Max!” El cried out, twinged with worry. 

 

“We’re  gonna make it!” was the yell back, defiant and sure “We’re  gonna get them outta here!” 

 

Her best friend kept running, pulling them forward, ignoring the threats shouted at them to stop.  El watched them, but s oon,  with Max’s determination,  their glares stopped being so intimidating  and she began to glare back. They wanted to hurt the frogs – who were they to stop her and Max?

 

El turned back,  her unwavering gaze locked  to the door. She swallowed down the burn in her chest, ignoring the stinging in her legs. More screams, more shouts,  _ going to call you parents, those frogs were for the class, they’re ruining it all _ . El furrowed deeper and picked up speed, ushering them forward. 

 

It seemed impossible, but then, Max raised an arm and slammed it against the push-handle of the door. Light streamed in and then they were tumbling out into the grassy hills. El made sure to push the door closed behind her, just to make it harder on them. They went careening down the grassy planes that was dotted with kids milling around, slipping and yelling.

 

“ _ What in the hell _ – Max?! El?!” 

 

They were too busy to even register Dustin’s befuddled call, or the ogling, gobsmacked looks of their friends. Or the other kids, really. They started hearing the offended screams of their teachers as they fell through the door, but then Max crashed down to her knees, pulling the box with her.

 

“Quick, quick, help me open the lid, c’mon!”

 

El fell down into the wet grass, hands scrapping at the lid. Fingers were trembling,  but  she eventually ripped open the lid with Max’s help, both the plastic and them falling back. 

 

There was a second of stillness, with everyone watching the scene unfold, where El could only hear the loud thrum of her wild heart in her ears. 

 

_ Where were..– _

 

Frogs instantly flew out of their entrapment, soaring through the crisp morning air and slamming into the dirt below. They jumped over and onto one another, going every which way  and  beginning their decent into the wild. 

 

El hurried back up to her feet, bright smile as she watched them run out into the wild. To their freedom. Max grinned beside her, near amazed that they did it. She could read the excitement of her best friend, looking out to all of it with  amazement . That’s when she snatched Max’s arm, jumping up and down on her toes with delight. 

 

“Look Max! There they go! They escaped! They’re free!”  


“Told you we’d do it!” Max laughed, then cupped her hands around her mouth “Go, go you little bastards! Roam free!” 

 

El laughed with her. They did it. She was so glad the frogs escaped, that they got to be happy. She couldn’t have done it on her own.

 

She looked to Max, things starting to slow down a little. She was smiling away and the sunlight made her red hair gleam. Her fearless best friend, her do or die. She didn’t understand the complete depth of why it was so important for El to release the frogs, but she helped her anyway with her bravery and  unbeatable will.

 

El threw her arms around Max’s shoulders, forehead pressed into her shoulder and squeezing tight. Max stilled, lips curling and one brow raised.

 

“El..?” 

 

“Thank you..for helping..” 

 

The brunette didn’t really need to say more for Max to catch the sentiment, to see how tight El held on. She smiled bigger, mouth open to form a reply – 

 

“Alright, you two!” 

 

Shit. Principal Sampson had caught up to them now, stopping to a stumbling halt behind them. He bent over briefly on his knees, wheezing harshly.

 

“You...you’re both..in –  _ pant _ – in big trouble..” 

 

Mr. Clarke eventually caught up, stopping beside his coworker. He looked uncharacteristically upset, bunched brow and folded arms. 

 

“Girls I’m very disappointed. You’ve gotten yourselves into a very big mess.” 

 

El scrunched her face into a glare, meeting the harsh eyes of the adults straight-on. She quickly threw her arm in front of Max, stepping forward.

 

“My fault. It was..my idea. Max  only  helped, don’t blame her –” 

 

Max’s blues popped out. She yanked down El’s arm and pushed herself  in front .

 

“No! No El didn’t do anything, it was just a dum b prank I wanted to do –” 

 

“No! Max –” 

 

“Enough!” Their principal  screeched , straightening back up and fixing them in harsh looks “It doesn’t matter who started it, I don’t care! You’ve ruined the science class’s biology unit now, and wasted good money! Hopper, I’m sure your father,  _ head of police _ , will love to hear this. Mayfield, well,  from what I hear of your brother up at the high school,  I should’ve expected this from you..” 

 

El glared harder, searing her eyes into the older man’s “..Mouthbreather..” 

 

“ _ What was that _ , young lady?!”

 

“Nothing!” Max jumped in, looping her arm through El’s “We understand sir, we’ll see ourselves to your office.” she steered El and her around him, head ducking down to mutter so only they could hear “before that vein in your neck explodes..” 

 

El grinned, both holding down their giggles. Sampson kept his beady eyes to their backs, as he was  _ pretty sure _ he just heard what he thought he did but couldn’t confirm, instead biting into his cheek, steam coming out of his ears. 

 

Everyone was watching them now, the adults and the awe d gazes of their peers. The girls kept their heads high, proudly taking the walk of shame back into the school.

 

All El could hear was the happy ribbiting of the roaming frogs, making her smile harder and tighten her arm around Max’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked it let me know! We're already half way through now! I'll try for the next chapter soon :)


	4. The Ives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends! Finally, I've got this chapter up. Now, I'm one of those people that believes Joyce is 110% El's mom, figuratively and then for real when she adopts her (which is honestly the only fucking thing I want out of this stupid show). But, I still thought it was important that El gets to bond with her birth family, especially since in season 2 we have her meeting them in canon. So here's that! This again, takes place a bit later then the last chapter, where El is a bit more affiliated with school (I'm trying to improve her vocab and language skills, as how I would imagine they would develop the more accustomed she becomes to the world). Also, you'll see I threw in some dates there, but they're honestly more of vague guesses of the timeline then sure facts because I can't do math and counting and number even a little bit :P 
> 
> Anyway this one is really sweet to me, hope you enjoy it :)

El pushed open the creaky car door, feet hitting the frosted, crunchy leaves on the ground. She lifts her head to the lone, worn house a few feet from the dirt driveway. 

 

“Okay,” El turns her head to the voice, to her brother “I’ll pick you up at our regular time alright, at 3:45.” 

 

“Three-four-five.” El repeated, getting a light chuckle in response. 

 

“Yeah. Three-four-five.” Jonathan smiled. El smiled back.

 

“Thank you Jonathan.” 

 

“No problem El. Have a good time, I’ll see you later.” 

 

El nodded, shutting the door after. She heard the crunch of tires backing up as she climbed the rickety steps to the house door. She lifted a finger and held down the buzzer, waiting patiently. 

 

Soon, she heard the familiar noise of the locks sliding open, and then there was her Aunt Becky at the other side. 

 

“Hey there kiddo.” She let out a small smile “C’mon in, we’re almost ready.” 

 

El stepped through the door, locking it behind her. She slid off her boots as her aunt walked back down the hall, promptly hanging her thick pink coat up on the railing like usual. She trailed into the living room after, low smells of something cooking greeting her. 

 

“Lunch is almost ready.” Aunt Becky calls from where she stood over the stove “Just gotta give it a couple more minutes.” 

 

“More Eggos..?” 

 

There was a small laugh in response “It’s something a little more heartier then that. But yes, we did remember to stalk up this time.” 

 

El smiled lightly. She turned her head to the living room, finding her Mama there in her usual chair in front of the t.v. She walked across, grasping the wooden desk chair and started dragging it over. She set it up beside the rocking woman, hoping up onto it. She looked up the frail face, the glassy eyes that were glued to the screen. El took a deep breath; this part was never easy, but it’d gotten a lot better since the first time. 

 

“Hi Mama.” She greeted with a smile, taking her hand. The woman continued to rock. She breathed in again. 

 

“I hope you’re feeling good. I’ve been good; it’s..becoming winter, now, so it’s colder. We have to stay in, now, instead of biking..me and my friends. But that’s okay. We get to do movie nights; we saw  _ The Breakfast Club. _ The boys and Max said it was..boring, but, Will and me – Will and  _ I _ , liked it. We also did other stuff, like...we finished our Lego set. The spaceship. I told you about. But, um..soon it will snow..so..we can go sledding. Lucas promised me I get the first ride on the hill. The big one, behind the elementary school.” 

 

More rocking, El watching her mutter the same repeated phrases again and again. 

 

“And there’s..um...school. It’s almost done. Everybody wants to go on break, but I’ll miss it. I’ll miss Mrs. Dawkins’s class. We finished  _ Of Mice and Men _ , and it was...sad, but good. Mrs. Dawkins says I’m.. be-be _ coming _ her favourite student. I got the highest grade on the essay we wrote. An A+.” 

 

The rocking stopped. The hand shifted under hers, made two inches toward her. El held her breath. And then it started all over again. El smiled lightly. 

 

“Nancy and Jonathan took me out for ice cream, to, um, celebrate. Kali says..I’m going to be a nerd, just like my friends, but..I know, she’s proud of me. Dad and...Joyce had to work, but they let me pick Saturday night’s movie, as a re-reward for..my...um, hardwork.” 

 

She didn’t call Joyce by her name. She called her Mom, just like her brothers did. But she never dared to in front of her Mama; she couldn’t bring up most of her family, just talking about them in bits. She’d ended up getting teary in front of her aunt once, saying how worried she was that she might make her Mama upset if she talked about her Mom, about her chosen family. As if she replaced her and didn’t care about her. Her aunt had comforted her, saying she hardly needed to worry, that Terry was never going to be upset with her. 

 

“ _ She’s so happy you’re here kid, trust me.”  _

 

“ _You think…?”_

 

“ _I’ve been looking after Terry for thirteen years. I know_ .” 

 

The only person she had “met” was Kali. The teen had gotten curious about it all, and El had been more then willing to have them meet. She’d already told her Mama how happy she was that she brought her to Kali, that she gave her her sister. 

 

El introduced them, and even though she could tell her sister was upset at what she saw, at the injustice she found, Kali was patient and kind. She’d knelt at her other side and put a hand over Terry’s arm, and told her with complete earnest, tears in her own brown eyes, how indebted she was to her that she brought El to her. That she’d given her a family. That El was a brilliant and kind young girl, and she ought to be so proud of her. El had sat, teary and smiling, and then told her Mama all about what Kali had taught her, about the fierce protector of her older sister. 

 

She’d rocked and mumbled like usual. And when Kali later tried to stand back up, sliding her hand out, Terry had gripped back onto it. Both sisters exchanged a tearfully ecstatic gaze. 

 

El told some more stories, of the baseball game Steve took them to, and how Max helped her master the claw machine at the arcade (without Dustin’s cheat of “just tilting the damn thing.”). When Mike invited her over to help with planning the next D&D game, but Holly had burst in and demanded that her honorary big sister help do her hair, and Mike got huffy but El had smiled and said she could do both, giving Mike pointers all while braiding Holly’s blonde strands. That things were good now, but she worried about the oncoming winter; the coldness and the even colder memories it brings. However, she also knows her friends, her family, can make it through anything, together. 

 

After Becky called her, and they ate their lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup. El also filled her in, and at least this time the conversation could have a bit more depth. She rolls her eyes when El talks about all the antics the boys get up to, but says that they all sound like they’re very good to her. That she shouldn’t lose that. 

 

She was glad that she’d been able to spend time with her Mama and Aunt, to really get to know them. She’d been too shy, a little ashamed of what she’d done, to try coming back. But once Hopper had caught on to what had happened, he was picking her up and forcing her right back ( _ “That woman has got to be wondering where the hell you went.” _ ). El was worried maybe her Aunt wouldn’t want to see her now, but to her surprise, she was very happy to – after all, she’d just figured El had run off into the dark and that was it. El apologized for what she did, and Hopper even tried to compensate for the lost money. She’d only taken a little after completely refusing, and whatever was left, El made up for in doing chores around the old house – that way, there was accountability and fairness on all sides. After that, El had been coming around more, scheduling monthly visits with the family. And she was enjoying them quite a bit.

 

Her Aunt wasn’t inherently warm like her Mom or cheery like Nancy, but she was a good conversationalist and always asked El lots of questions around school and her opinions in this and that. And sometimes it was hard to talk to Mama when she didn’t say anything back, but soon El learned how to pick up on the tiny messages, the wordless replies in every movement of the woman’s secret language. 

 

After wondering for so long about where she came from, she was so glad to finally know them so well.

 

Later, after they’d finished their lunch, her aunt put a hand on her arm with an excited smile. Said she had a surprise for her. So El, intrigued, followed her up the old and creaky stairs to the second floor, and then all the way to the attic, to the lone door up the second pair of stairs.

 

“I know you wanted some stuff for that project you were talking about,” Becky pulled back the door, the both of them squinting through the dark and dust “so I managed to drag out some stuff.” 

 

It was a socials project; El had told her they were doing a family tree sort of thing, and did she have anything she could use? Becky had pondered, told her to give her some time – she just might. 

 

The older woman flicked on the light switch, illuminating the tiny space. She led her through the small room, weaving out of the boxes that littered the floor. 

 

“I got some photos here,” She stopped at one box, kneeling down to a pile of photographs left there “parents, grandparents, what have you, for whatever it is you might need.”

 

El quirked her head, now very intrigued, sat down next to her aunt to start pulling through the stack. She only needed a couple things. Hopper had provided some photos of his parents who he said were “long passed now”, so she had everything she needed for her father’s side. So she was just going to need some photos of her mother and maybe a grand parent.

 

So the two sat there for an hour maybe, combing through the photos and the stories. El would smile at all the faces; little kids running amuck in back yards, families gathered around a feast at the table, couples sharing a kiss and standing poised by the beach or under the patio.

 

At one point, El pulled out a particular photo. In it was a woman who had to be, maybe, in her early twenties, leaning against a polished, blue car. Arms up in the air and an excited grin spread across her lips. The thin face and long, wispy dirty blonde hair that was unmistakable to El. She smiled sweetly. 

 

“Mama..” 

 

Becky leaned over her shoulder, grinning as she saw it “Yeah, it is. God, how old is that photo; I can remember the day it was taken..” 

 

El glanced up curiously, silently asking for answers. 

 

“She was, I think twenty-three there. And our father had finally gotten a new car after using that Volvo wagon for ages, which meant that Terry got it. She got it cleaned up, and even though it was kind of a piece of crap, she was still so excited, which is why she made me take that photo.”

 

El smiled brighter. She decided to use that one in her project, as her Mama was smiling in it. Some time after, she finds a photo of two kids; two little girls. They were both wearing the same colourful poke-a-dot bathing suit, arms around each other and beaming away at the camera. On the back it read  _ Terry and Becky, 59’. _ She tugged on her aunt’s sleeve, holding it up. 

 

“Hm? Oh yeah, hey – that’s Terry and me. Man, this is monumentally old. I guess we would've been..geez, well Terry looks about ten there, so that probably makes me seven.” 

 

“’Nice..” El complimented. Becky scoffed, though more to herself. 

 

“I might’ve been, if we weren’t wearing those god-ugly suits that our mother forced us to wear. I guess, it was compensation for all those times we’d fight like mad..”

 

El giggled a bit, tracing her finger over the photo. 

 

“I like...siblings..” She said, thinking fondly of her own “We don’t fight..much..though. Sometimes, me and Kali, but only a little ‘cause..Mom says..we’re..both..um, bull..bullhead..?” 

 

“Bullheaded.” 

 

El nods vapidly. Her aunt chuckles. 

 

“Well that’s good it doesn’t happen often. Must be a relief to that poor, second mom of yours.”

 

Becky couldn’t imagine, with four of the kids in the house, but she’s glad the family was so balanced. And that that woman was so kind to El, pretty much treated her as her very own. She, of course, couldn’t expect Terry or even herself, to be the kind of mother her niece needed; she knew there was going to have to be someone else, and she was happy that mother was as devoted as she was. The two had quite an attachment. Though even still, Becky was secretly delighted to see how much El did for Terry too. She always thinks of that time on mother’s day. Apparently, after El and that twin brother gave their mother her favourite lilies, El had her sister drive her all the way over here to give Terry her own flowers. Violets, after Becky told her those used to be her sister’s favourite. 

 

“Our family just had Terry and me, and even if we used to fight like dogs, we were still tied to the hip. Never really went anywhere without the other.” She smiled fondly to the photo in El’s hands, shuffling in beside with her back leaning on another box pile “..She was a good big sister. Whenever any of those older girls used to try to pick on me, she’d be there to defend me. She even took detention for me once, after tearing Beth Myers’ dress when she tried to threaten me. Was  _ our mother  _ ever mad..” 

 

She laughed softly, trying to swallow through her thick throat. El quirked her head.

 

“..She’d protect you..” 

 

“Yeah, she did..” 

 

El blinked, staring thoughtfully up at her aunt, her big brown eyes wide. 

 

“..Now, you protect her..”

 

Becky could only blink back, feeling her throat close in and chest tighten. Then, she started smiling. For a kid just starting to come into the world, she already had such deep understanding. 

 

“...Yeah, I guess so...” 

 

El smiled contently, going back to admire the photo. 

 

“...My brother..sometimes, mouthbreathers, bullies..hurt him, ‘cause he’s small. And kind. So I help.” 

 

“Oh yeah? You get the bullies for him?” 

 

El nodded somberly, brow bunched with seriousness “I got them. They don’t do it anymore.” 

 

Her aunt had a good laugh over that.

 

The sort through more and more, and El makes a nice pile for herself to take back. She studies all the different faces and listens to all the stories attached; like the one of the little Jack Russel carrying a branch twice his size that her Aunt explained was their family dog Rusty. Or the reason, she said with a red face as El grinned, that her twelve-year-old self was wearing that tacky elf costume for the Christmas play. El enjoyed hearing all about them. Her aunt often told her things about her mother; that she used to love to do water colour painting, that she was the captain of her college’s volleyball team, her middle name was  _ Marie _ , that her favourite colour was yellow. El wears a lot more yellow now-a-days.

 

She finds one particular photo near the bottom, after she’d gone through most. It was pretty worn, frayed at the edges. Just in black and white, the colour faded into a kind of yellow. It was of a young girl, no older then her age, a very old fashioned dress on and bow holding up her hair. El squints down at it. She hears her aunt shuffle behind her.

 

“And that you have there..” Becky smiled down at it, fingertips grasping at the edge “is mom.” 

 

El’s smile became bigger “M-mom..? So, like..”

 

“Yep. Your Grandma.” She confirmed, watching fondness flood El’s gaze “She would’ve been Grandma Jane, to you.” 

 

A gasp fell out of El, head whipping back to her aunt. The older woman couldn’t help but chuckle at the completly gobsmacked look. 

 

“..Y-You mean –”

 

“I do. You’re named after her; Terry had always wanted to name a girl after our mom.” The smile faltered slightly, a squint coming over “Haven’t I ever told you that before..? I swear it would’ve come up..” 

 

El shook her head, still mesmerized by the photo in her hands. Not only did she have her own name which for so long she’d never even known, but it was  _ after someone.  _ Grandma Jane, her grandma. 

 

“Here..” 

 

Becky reached forward, flipping the photo over. There was the scrawl of delicate and fancy handwriting on the back, spelling out  _ Janey _ with  _ 1926 _ below it. 

 

“Let’s see..god, she would’ve been..I dunno, maybe fourteen? Just a little under that? Around there anyway. She was a spitfire our mom, gave her dad a run for his money for sure.” 

 

El beamed down at the photo. That wasn’t too far off. She placed a gentle hand over it, over Janey, and then placed it carefully atop her pile. 

 

By the time 3:45 hit, El had plenty for her project. She collected the photos and slipped them into the ziplock bag she was given. As Jonathan’s car pulled up to the driveway, El walked her way back into the living room, coat slipped on and gripping her bag of new-found treasures and stories. Her mother was still entranced in her rocking chair, far-away eyes on the next new game show currently on. El approached, smiling fondly at the woman. She thought of the photo of her mom and her new car – of her big, grinning face. 

 

“Goodbye Mama.” She leaned in carefully and placed a light kiss to her cheek “I’ll see you soon..”

 

The woman continued to rock. And then the t.v flickered briefly. El smiled bigger. 

 

She walked back to the open doorway, to her waiting aunt, and brother in the driveway. Becky grinned a bit as she approached. 

 

“It was good seeing you kid.” She told her “I gotta say, it was kinda fun going through all those photos. A lot of good memories in there I’d forgotten about..” 

 

El smiled back up at her aunt, her weary but still shining eyes, the crinkled and messy brown hair. Becky said once, how much El looked like her mother ( _ “it’s all in the chin and the cheeks, that’s Terry.” _ ) and made a joke that she didn’t get much from her end, from their father’s end, but El pointed to her aunt’s dark and curly hair, and then pointed to her own.  _ “Hair. Same.”  _ She remembered how elated she’d looked then.

 

“Thank you...for showing me.”

 

“Hey, anytime.” 

 

El beamed at that. Then, she stepped in, putting her arms around the older woman. She’d gotten into the habit, of hugging everyone she could when she said goodbye to them. Mostly, ‘cause it was a precaution, as she didn’t know when she’d ever see them last. If this might be the final time. 

 

But now, it was mostly ‘cause she liked to be close to the people she cared about.

 

She heard Becky’s usual, light, half laugh, and then arms circle around her too. Sometimes her aunt’s hugs were a little clumsy, but she was getting better at them. After all, El had thought, she didn’t really have anyone around to do that with, really. She liked that she was helping her. 

 

In soon time, she was walking off the porch, waving goodbye. The cabin door closed just as she opened the one to Jonathan’s old yet faithful car. 

 

“Hey El.” 

 

“Hello.” She greets, settling into the seat and clicking in the belt. 

 

“Have a good time?” Jonathan asks, leaning back as he starts reversing the car. 

 

“Mm-hmm.” El answers; she peels back the zipper to the bag, and then takes the old, faded photo from the top of the pile, holding it up “‘Look it.” 

 

Jonathan, paused at the end of the driveway, takes a peek over her shoulder to the tween girl in the decaying picture. 

 

“Wow – who’s that?” 

 

“My grandma.” El answers with a wide smile “Grandma Jane.”

 

“Hey!” Jonathan grins back, catching the connection “That’s pretty cool El.”

 

“Yeah. My aunt said, she’s...a total spitfire..” 

 

Now on the road, Jonathan pulled back the gear shift, his eyes glinting in a way that’s rare for him.

 

“Bet she’d love that her granddaughter who took her name was just as much of a badass.” 

 

El grinned to herself at that. She zipped the bag back up as they started along the road, trees blurring by with the gentle rumble against the pavement. So she leans against the car door with her head on the rim, placed the photo up to her chest to be close over her heart, and falls asleep on the way back home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all know the drill; if it was good for you, let me know. Only two more chapters left :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hope that was good! Stay tuned for next chapter coming soon. Special shout out to 14winters (aka @nancykali on tumblr) for helping me out with this so it wasn't complete crap, and who runs one of the best stranger things blogs that you should definitely go follow.


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